Concern has been expressed that councils could be issuing fines simply to make money. At least 12 councils have used the services of private firm Xfor to issue fines

Communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles (Suzanne Plunkett)

TOWN halls are making hundreds of thousands of pounds a year from fines for
littering, raising fears tickets are being handed out purely to generate
money.

A total of 73,536 penalties were handed out across Britain last year for
dropping rubbish, equivalent to 201 people a day being fined, according to a
new report.

Of those, 63,883 were issued in England, up from 727 in 1997, and local
authorities are increasingly turning to a private firm run by former
military personnel to deliver the on-the-spot fines, according to The Mail
on Sunday.

The newspaper said people issued with fines had complained of wardens wearing
police-style outfits who “lie in wait for smokers or follow them down the
street and pounce”. They were given £75 fines, even if they had put
cigarette butts down drains.

The paper said one 82-year-old widow was threatened with prison for fly
tipping after brushing leaves